And Then You
by capwidow20
Summary: Post Infinity War, life after the snap. Natasha and Steve try to figure out how to live after Thanos' snap. Can they forgive themselves for losing the fight and living without everyone they lost? But for the first time, they have time to figure out their feelings for each other.
1. Chapter 1

Half the population erased. No chance for any goodbyes. No redemption for the fight lost. Left are the ones who have to live with the loss. Everything feels emptier and everywhere feels lonelier.

Letting her guard down, Natasha tucks her bare face into her hands and lets out a quiet, small cry. Her eyes feel heavy and her heart is tired. She doesn't hear Steve walk into the room. He leans against the doorway and watches her for a moment.

"You know I'd offer to cook you dinner but you seem pretty miserable already."

Not even flinching, she quickly lifts her head up and blinks away her tears, though her face can't hide her weariness, she lifts up a smile to him, "You're here to do your laundry?"

"And to see a friend."

Stifling her tears, she speaks through her sad smile and crystal eyes, "Clearly your friend is fine."

Living in the city, Steve didn't live too far from the Avengers HQ where Natasha stayed. He wonders how she bares to stay there, everything is a constant reminder of the ones they lost. She's trying her best to be the glue for everyone else left, but she neglects the need to hold herself together.

Steve walks closer to her and sits in the chair right across from her. "You know, I keep telling everybody they should move on and grow. Some do… but not us."

They have been through so much together from strangers saving the world together, running as fugitives together, and now being the survivors of the snap together. Everything seemed to have happened in a blink of an eye with barely any time for a single thought to themselves, but somewhere in the middle of it all, they've gotten to trust and rely on each other the other Avengers couldn't even fathom. They came from complete opposite lives. Steve had a family, best friend, morals, a dedication to always be good, but Natasha grew up with a buried heart believing in a suffering world trained to be an emotionless assassin. Yet, something constantly attracts them to each other.

"I used to have nothing. And then I got this. This job. This family. And I was... I was better because of it. And even though... they're gone... Now, I'm still trying to be better." Her voice comes out tired, almost holding back the tears she won't let fall.

"We both need to get a life."

Her lips curve into a small smile. "You first."

Since moving back to Brooklyn where Steve grew up, he's finally had an overwhelming amount of time to think for himself. What did he want before he was tasked with saving the world? He wanted to be a good man. He wanted to love Peggy. His love for Peggy gave him the courage to become Captain America, but since then he's nearly lived another whole life and gone through unimaginable experiences… and looking back by his side stood Natasha. And since losing everyone, he realizes that he never wants to take for granted looking beside him and seeing her there.

Steve sits upright and move his body closer to the desk, his eyes never leaving Natasha's. They hold their gaze on each other, while he reaches out and gently grabs a hold of her hands. "Nat…" He squeezes her hands that are balled up between his. "You have to stop punishing yourself. You deserve the good things this world has to offer as much as anybody else."

Her eyes try to look away and her voice becomes shy and quiet, "Steve… you don't know all the things that I've done." She gates her own heart and keeps it in chains. She shines smiles and humors others, so no one can find the lonely tower she locks herself in. "You're Steve Rogers. _Captain America_. The symbol of a hero, the poster child for a good man," she sadly chuckles as she lists out their differences. "I'm… I'm what we used to have to stop. I used to be the mission. I was bad for the world… it doesn't own me anything."

Hearing her speak about herself like a monster breaks Steve's heart. He knows her more than that now, but all she chooses to see herself as is a monster. She was willing to risk dying trying to save everyone in Sokovia without hesitation. She has a beautiful broken heart that she believes is undeserving of any healing.

Steve looks right into her green eyes and says sincerely, "Natasha, you've done enough. You've thrown yourself on the line for your family, for a country of strangers, for an unforgiving world… for me. _You _are enough. This road to redemption has a finish line, you got to let yourself get there." Things slip through fingers like sand, so Steve isn't taking anymore chances. "So, what do you want for _yourself_?" He feels the intensity of his heartbeat. "Because I know what I want for myself." He leans his body over the desk and puts his hand behind her neck pulling Natasha in for a kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for reading! Please leave reviews / feedback, I'd love to know what you think about my writing~ :)

Natasha doesn't know if she has ever known this feeling that is rushing through her body. The feeling is completely unfamiliar, but she can't help and melt into Steve's lips. Her body temperature rises like a cozy warm blanket has been draped over her that she just wanted to pull tighter, but her opening eyes reel her back to reality. With his lips still glued to hers, Natasha gently pushes Steve's chest back ending their embrace.

"…Steve," she says softly looking into his eyes. She can't let herself get lost in them. "You can't just do that."

Steve can feel the truth emitting from her body language, even though she's franticly trying to build her wall back up. Her vulnerability is fragile. "Be honest with me. Tell me what you feel."

She curves her lips into a melancholy smile, gripping her lips tightly together, and gently shakes her head.

"Fine," he shrugs his shoulders. "I'll go first." He leans back into his chair and crosses his arms. Smiling at her, he says, "There's no denial, you were stunning the first moment we met before we got on that plane. But at the time… that was before I become the Avengers _Captain America… _I was still 40's _Captain America, _old-fashioned—"

"You're still old-fashion."

"Cut me some slack," he laughs, "I'm just starting to have time to catch up… But as I was saying, 40's Cap… he was—he is, in love with Peggy. She was his first love and she's one of the reasons why I decided to become Captain America in the first place. She's made me who I am." Natasha moves her gaze from Steve's eyes to her hands. Immediately, he could feel her body language shy away, lowering in confidence.

"I'm not Peggy."

Steve gets up from his chair and walks over behind the table to Natasha's side. He stands on the side that her chair faces and gently leans into the table. He crosses his arms and looks at her, but she's looking away. "And I'm not asking you to be. What I'm trying to say is… I've changed and so have you. I think it's safe to say we've seen each other through a lot of it. Even though you still try to hide it from me."

"Sorry," she says biting her lip. She's nervously tapping her nails on the surface of the table. "Force of habit."

"And now that I've finally had time to think for myself, I'm realizing these things… like how it felt when we kissed in the mall, how out of everyone I was most disappointed with you siding with Tony on the Accords, how my immediate thought during the snap was you… and the relief that came over me when you came running."

Now, Natasha has her head turned, looking up at Steve. The moment flashes in her head and she feels her eyes becoming wetter.

Everyone was disappearing around her, but Cap called for back-up and she ran to him as fast as she could, despite the dust of people she passed. She held her breath running faster than she's ever ran, desperately hoping he would be there when she reached him.

"We lost," Natasha sighs while blinking away tears. "We never lose and we _lost_."

"We did," Steve admits. He's never even said it to himself before, but Natasha can have no idea that she makes him feel strong enough to face it. He grabs a hold of her hand and squeezes it. "But you still got me. You were there for me. Let me be here for you."

At one point, Natasha wanted to feel something so bad that she would've given up everything and ran away with Bruce. She sought an affection that she never felt or was given before. She had no idea what she was after, but she just naturally craved it like any other human-being. Did she really believe _love_ was for children? That's what she said, but what she really believed was that it was something she was undeserving of having. On top of her raw confession and Bruce's rejection, she buried any desire for that feeling.

Yet here she is again dangled in front of this desire. However, the difference is she too desperately fought to feel it with Bruce, but, with Steve, it feels so natural as if she's try to fight it off at this point because her heart is too guarded. Lost in her thoughts, Steve pulls her out and off of her chair.

"Steve!"

He intertwines one of their hands together and wraps his other arm around her small waist, closing the gap between them. Her face nearly pressed against his chest, she can feel his heartbeat on the side of her face.

In the softest whisper, she says, "What are you doing?"

He secures his embrace around her waist, sending chills down her spine. "We're dancing," he sweetly whispers in her ear.

She buries her smile into his chest. "With no music?"

They shuffle back and forth all around the room, laughing and giggling, tripping over each others' feet. He catches her throwing her head back and laughing and it sounds better than any music. They finally slow down, and she lets her whole body melt into his, putting the entire weight of her head on his chest. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath; it feelings like a dream that doesn't want to wake up from.

"See? We don't need any music." He gently kisses the top of her red hair. "We just need each other."

She has never felt more calm in her entire life; her feelings feel so weightless and surreal. She wraps her arms around his waist and she's never wanted to hold on to something so much.

"Hey! Hey! Anybody there?" The monitor shows a man at the front door. "I was at the airport? Ant-man?"


	3. Chapter 3

Enjoy! Hope it's not too long! :)

The sound of Scott Lang's voice ends their serene embrace. Reluctant to let go of Natasha snuggled into his body, but she manages to slip right through his arms and steps toward the holographic monitor with eyes open wide.

"Oh my God," she says moving her hand over her mouth in surprise.

Steve walks up right behind her to get a closer look. "Is this an old recording?"

She smiles in disbelief. "He's out there, right _now_."

Both rushing outside to greet Scott, he's franticly asking questions about the state of the world and what's happened during the time he was trapped. They hadn't seen Scott since the airport fight… so they just grieved him like he had disappeared with the others after the snap. As relieved as Natasha and Steve are to see an old familiar face, they bare the devastating news of their lost friends. Pale sadness washes over Scott when he thinks about the last time he saw Hope.

"We're so sorry, Scott," Natasha says. "It must've been a long and difficult five years."

Deep in thought, Scott comes to a realization that perhaps the Quantum Realm saved him from the snap. He looks from Natasha to Steve and explains, "The thing is it wasn't… It might've been five years for you, but it was more like five hours for me." Natasha sends a confused glance at Steve, while Scott sees Nat's peanut butter jelly sandwich on the table and hungrily grabs it, "Oh my God, I'm starving! Anybody going to finish this?" Without hesitating for an answer, he nearly scarfs the whole sandwich down in two bites.

"Scott, please explain, the Quantum Realm?" Steve says.

"Right, right, as I was saying," Scott continues, "In the Quantum Realm, space and time are irrelevant. What if we used the Quantum Realm to get past versions of the Infinity Stones _before_ Thanos and just undo the snap?"

"You mean, time travel?" Steve questions.

"Well, yes, basically. Like a time heist."

"We're going to need more brains and power for this," Steve says.

They leave the Avengers facility building and get into Steve's car. Nat sits in the passenger seat, while Scott takes a back seat. After coming back from being lost in space, Tony didn't take the humiliation of losing to Thanos very well. While the Avengers fought together in Wakanda, Tony nearly died fighting alongside Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy, but eventually surrendered to Thanos, and the image of Peter Parker clutching his chest begging for his life haunts his memories.

Steve never meant for Tony to fight that battle without them. They were supposed face victory… and loss together. He knows Tony had pent up anger with him, and he doesn't blame him. Since then, Tony has tried hard to move on and keep any danger at arms length, especially with his daughter, Morgan. Steve knows them asking him for help will be bursting that bubble, but they can't do it without him.

On the drive to Tony's house in the woods, Natasha can see the tension building up inside of Steve. He keeps a stern face and clenches his teeth with his hand tightly gripped on the steering wheel.

Natasha turns her body toward Steve and says, "Hey, you alright?"

Breaking his silent tension, he glances at her and feels his breathing steady from seeing her soft and concerning gaze. "Yeah… yeah, I'm fine." Nat smoothes her hand on top of his freehand, and her small hand barely covers the backside of his palm. She gives him a small comforting smile and Steve mouths '_thank you'._

Scott silently examines their interactions from the back seat. His eyebrows furrow, he feels unsure, but a bit sure… He has been gone for five years. It doesn't exactly make him feel awkward… yet.

"Am I missing something here?" Scott finally asks just as they arrive at Tony's house. Before he could hear any answer, they're getting out of the car.

Tony happens to be playing with Morgan outside, and watches Steve's car pull in. Automatically, he tensions up a little, and tells Morgan to go inside and find Mommy.

He walks toward Steve, Nat, and Scott. "Cap. Nat," Tony greets and squints a little, "Is that Scott Lang? Geez where you been?"

"That's what we're here to talk about," Steve says. They stand outside on his porch. Scott explains his experience with the Quantum Realm and his idea to to time travel in order to retrieve all the infinity stones and be able to snap and undo everything Thanos did.

"A time heist," Scott calls it.

"With time travel, there's completely no guarantee. The chances are unpredictable and not to mention absolutely dangerous," Tony waves the idea off. He steps closer to Steve. "We _all_ suffered loss, and I'm not about to put at risk what I have now. I can't and I won't. So I'm sorry, but I'm sitting this one out."

How can they blame him? Tony's got this peaceful cabin the woods by the water with his family, Pepper and Morgan. Nat looks disappointed, but still understood that he had something he couldn't put in jeopardy. Scott still feels hopeful that Tony just needed a little more convincing because he believes in his idea since he had the most experience with the Quantum Realm.

"Okay, well, then," Tony says, "You're all free to stay for dinner. Table set for 7, but if you stay no hero talk, no time travel talk, none of that."

They decide to stay for dinner for old times sake. Tony sits at the end of the table, while Scotts sits at the other end. Morgan sits next to Pepper, and across from Steve and Nat.

"Pepper, this is really lovely, thank you," Nat says.

"Well, then you should all come by more often," she responds smiling at them. As everyone is passing dishes and food around, she asks, "So what have you guys been doing?"

"Well, I basically just came out of storage this morning," Scott laughs, but looking and pointing at Steve and Natasha, he says, "but I think she was more referring to you guys."

"… I've been at the facility," Natasha says while mindlessly picking at the food on her plate.

"You stay there? Why?" Tony chimes in. "Isn't it… doesn't everything just—"

"Seem like a reminder?"

Tony's expression turns melancholy, but continues poking at his chicken. "Yeah."

"I've just always spent a lot of time there… and with Fury, the Avengers, sometimes Carol, Rhodey, Rocket, or Nebula will check-in. And well, I just want to always keep that channel open, just in-case," Nat's voice slightly cracks, but she catches it, and clears her throat.

"Nat, that isn't on you though," Tony says. "That doesn't have to be your job." He bites the chicken off his fork and points the fork at her. "But you've always been the glue for us." That gets a smile out of her.

"How about you Steve?" Pepper asks. "Are you staying at the facility too?"

"Sometimes-"

"No-"

Nat and Steve look at each other and Tony gives them a suspicious glance back and forth, slowly chewing his food.

"Steve drops by sometimes," Nat clarifies. "To do laundry or use the gym… nothing beats the facility training rooms."

"I'm only in the city, so it's not too far to drop by and check-in on this one," Steve says bumping shoulders with Nat. Now, Tony and Pepper are raising eyebrows at each other, they are definitely raising their suspicious.

Out of the blue, Morgan giggles with her mouth full.

"Morgan," Pepper chuckles. "Finish chewing before you laugh." Steve and Nat smile at Morgan like she's the sweetest thing.

"Well, little miss," Tony says poking her nose. "What so funny?"

"_You_ like her," Morgan giggles again.

Steve conceals his smile, and side glances at Natasha, but she looking away and tightly rubbing her lips together.

Tony leans down closer to Morgan and looks back and forth at Nat and Steve. _Of course she's my daughter_, he thinks. "Who likes who now?"

"Uncle Cap and aunty Nat!"

Suddenly, Scott starts yawning and says, "Wow, you know what I'm so tired after today. Flying out of a mini van really took a toll on my back. I think I could pass out any second." Saved by Scott, Nat let go of her breath, but she is still blushing.

Pepper asks them to stay since the night since it's so late, it'd be better to drive back in the morning when the sun rises. Their cabin house has five bedrooms, there are four rooms upstairs, the master room, Morgan's room, two guest rooms, while the fifth room, nap/guest room, is on the first floor.

"I could just take the room down here. Easy enough for me," Scott says.

"Perfect," Pepper smiles. "Guess you two will have the guest rooms upstairs. Let me show them to you." They walk up the stairs and the first room facing the stairs is the master room and right next to it is Morgan' room. The bathroom is in the middle of the hallway. On the other side of the stairs, across the hallway, are the two guests rooms. "They're nearly identical, so there's no point in fighting for the better room," she jokes. "Well, have a good night."

"Thank you Pepper," they both say.

Hope it's not too long!

"Of course," she smiles before heading back down to get Morgan ready for bed.

"Well, okay, goodnight!" Natasha says really fast and tries to escape into her room, but Steve's quick reflexes manage to catch her wrist before she gets behind the door.

"Hey! Hey!" Steve says. "Hold on, hold on—" Before she lets him finish, they hear Tony, Pepper, and Morgan's footsteps coming on the stairs, so Natasha pulls back into her room dragging Steve in with her, and pushes him back against the door to close it, but he pulls her into him.

They're so close, they can hear each others' heavy breathing, their eyes looks deeply into one another. Steve's eyes have a quick glance down at Nat's lips before his hand slides behind her neck, pulling her in fast for an intense kiss. Her hands roam through his hair as they stumble backward and forward into the big queen-sized bed.


	4. Chapter 4

The sun beams in from the sheer curtains and bleeds light into the room. Sleep has never felt so good and the bed has never been so comforting. Feeling light as a feather with her eyes closed and a smitten smile across her face, Nat snuggles further into Steve's warm body.

For the last ten minutes he's been awake, Steve silently watches Natasha completely at rest; her breathing is steady, her eyebrows relaxed, her lips slightly curved upward, her heart on her sleeve. All the Avengers teased him for never going out on dates, wanting to meet anyone, or move on. Jokingly making fun of him for holding out, and wasting what time he had. Little did they know, and himself, that this was what he was holding out for. Experience life through a few decades, never has the air felt fresher.

He kisses the top of her head and whispers, "Good morning, beautiful."

She slowly blinks her eyes open one at a time, and squints up looking at him. She lifts her hands up from underneath the white sheets and touches his cheek. Her bright green eyes softly glaze over his. "Is this real?" She says in a low whisper, scared that if she'd say it any louder everything will disappear in a cloud of smoke and she'll wake up.

He moves in and softly kisses her lips. "Very." She leans her forehead against his chin. "Last night…"

She lets out a quiet laugh and he can feel her shy breath on his neck. "…Yeah."

"I have never felt more alive since I came out of the ice," he jokes throwing his head back. He cups her face in his hands. "You make me feel alive."

"It feels like…" She can't even believe the words the coming out of mouth. She takes a deep breath. "I was drowning. And you were like coming up for air. You saved me."

"We saved each other." They share another kiss and playfully roll around in the messy white bed sheets. As Nat rolls off to the edge, Steve grabs her waist and pulls her back into him like a little spoon. "I never want to leave this bed," Steve says nuzzling his face into the crook of Natasha's exposed neck.

"I don't think Tony wants any roommates," she laughs.

Suddenly, their super sensitive hearing register the sound of the doorknob turning. Nat immediately ducks underneath the covers and Steve tries to act normal and cover himself.

"Hey Cap—Whoa, Whoa! Who knew Captain America slept naked," Tony said surprised and covering his eyes. "Well, just wanted to let you know that breakfast is ready. And would you tell Nat too. I think she's in the bathroom." Underneath the covers, Nat covers her mouth from giggling.

"Yep, sure thing. Will be down in five," Steve responds.

Nat peeks back up from the covers. "Do you think he saw me?"

"Of course he did." Natasha starts getting out of the bed and dragging the sheets with her. "Hey, hey!"

"You said five minutes!" She says running to the bathroom to get ready.

After cleaning up, Natasha and Steve make their way down the stairs. Trying to look as serious as possible, but they couldn't fix their bed hair. As they descend down the stairs, they see everyone at the table waiting for them.

"Good morning!" Pepper cheerfully says. "Hope you both had a good restful night of sleep."

"I di-" Nat answers.

"We di-" Steve answers making Nat nervously laugh and Tony smirk.

Everyone sits down at the table and breakfast smells amazing. Nat doesn't remember the last time ate a home-cooked meal. "Well, I call this superheroes breakfast. We've eggs, sunny-side and scrambled, toast, bacon, hash browns, yogurt, fruit, and a stack of pancakes."

"Thank you, Pepper," Nat says smiling.

"Course, let's make it a normal thing," she replies.

Everyone starts taking their share of each dish. Morgan goes straight for the pancakes. Nat patiently waits for everyone to finish grabbing their picks, but Steve takes a sunny-side up egg and slides it onto her plate.

"You like them sunny, right?"

Nat smiles. "_Thank you_," She mouths.

As everyone is eating, Tony looks at Nat, "By the way, Nat, you got to be the best guest ever, granted we haven't had any. But I checked the room this morning and it's spotless!" He takes a bite of his bacon. "As if you barely slept in it!"

She can feel her cheeks becoming hotter. She embarrassingly smiles down at her food.

"Oh! And did you know Cap sleeps _naked?" _

"Alright, alright!" Steve interjects. "I don't think Morgan would care to know about any of those details."

"For crying out loud, just confess! I so close as caught you!"

"Tony!" Pepper sends him a glare. "I'm sure it's none of our business."

"It's Avengers business! Once an Avenger, always an Avenger," Tony bargains. "So as I was saying, do you have anything you'd like to share with the team?"

"—I think this time heist thing would work." Saved by Scott Lang. "We just need to figure out the exact entry and exit points of the Quantum Realm—"

"Hey, hey, hey! What'd I say about talking about this inside?"

After breakfast, Natasha, Steve, and Steve get ready to head back to the Avengers facility. As their car drives off of the Stark residence, they see Tony holding Morgan in his arms, both waving them off.

Instead of driving straight to the HQ, they decide to contact Bruce Banner and meet him at a diner in town. They're seated at a booth, Steve and Nat sit across from Scott waiting for Bruce; however, he enters the diner with a commotion as Hulk. As he sits down at the end of the table, Steve can't help, but slide closer to Nat.

"Nat, how's Clint?"

The question catches Natasha off guard. She suddenly feels a lump in her throat thinking about her close friend. "He's uh.." She tries to clear her throat, and she feels Steve's arm behind her and squeezing her shoulder. "He's coping."

They all head to the Avenger's facility together, and begin researching and testing ways to use the Quantum Realm. They have a string of continuous failures with Scott returning as a different version of himself. Frustrated with the outcome, Steve exits the building to take a break just as Tony drives his car up to the building entrance.

Getting out of the car, Tony says, "I figured it out."

He's never been happier to see Tony. "So you changed your mind?"

"How were you ever going to do it without me?"

"Well, we don't have to find out now," Steve chuckles.

"Only if we can bring everyone back _without_ losing what I've gained. I can't."

They see Nat running to the glass doors, but she stops when she sees both Steve and Tony. Her body language relaxes and she smiles in relief.

Steve looks at Nat and smiles, while answering Tony, "Of course."


	5. Chapter 5

They spend the next month and a half perfecting their mission plan. With only a limited amount of Pym Particles, there is not much room left for error or test runs. Tony designs suits for every member that will allow their bodies to travel through the Quantum Realm. Successfully simulating a flawless travel path, there is space for one experimental run.

"Who's it?" Tony asks looking around the room at his fellow Avengers. They all know the risky possibilities of time travel; coming back not as they left and even not coming back at all, trapped in the medium like Janet, or Scott.

"I'll do it," Clint volunteers.

"Clint—" Nat says hesitantly.

He looks at his friend who's eyes nervously shake looking back at him. With a sad smile, he says, "What'd I have to lose?"

Clint suits up while everyone gathers around the control panel behind the platform they've built to enter the Quantum Realm. Clint walks up to the center of the device and clicks his helmet on. With her jaw tightened and eyebrows furrowed, Nat nervously stands beside Steve. Still getting used to any sort of PDA, especially with all their team members around, Steve simply stands closely behind her emitting comfort through the warmth of his body. Nat feels his chest behind her shoulder, and the tension in her body loosens as she leans slightly into Steve's body. Clint faintly nods at Nat, and she nods back.

"Okay Barton, remember, just go and come back," Tony instructs. "Don't interact with anybody and don't mess up any timelines." Five minutes pass, but it feels like twenty. "Bringing him back in 5, 4, 3, 2… 1." Tony hits the switch and Barton comes flying back onto the platform, landing on his hands and knees, barely catching his breath.

Immediately Nat runs to Clint trying to help him to his feet. "Clint, are you okay, are you hurt?" Steve knows they have always been close, yet he feels a slight drop in his heart at how unhesitant her warmth left him. Looking at them together, he has a feeling like he's out of place, but he shakes the thought away.

Chuckling in disbelief, Clint says, "It worked."

She is so happy for him, but she looks back and smiles at Steve. The sincere excitement in her face, he could feel her heart beating to bring her family back from miles away.

After the successful test run, the Avengers go to work calculating the specific timelines they needed to infiltrate to retrieve all the Infinity Stones. They pinpoint in 2012 with the Battle of New York, they can get the Time Stone, the Tesseract, and the Scepter, as well as the Aether in Asgard. In 2014, they can get the Orb and Soul Stone.

Dividing up into teams is easy and hard. It's the obvious choice for Steve to accompany Tony back to the Battle of New York, since he can use his knowledge of S.H.I.E.L.D. to his advantage, but he so desired to partner with Nat like they always had. Instead, she's going to Vormir with Clint, which makes him nervous since neither of them have any idea the other worlds out in the galaxy and how they work. He wants to be able to protect her, and frankly just be with her.

Unsurprisingly, Steve finds Nat in the kitchen making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"You want a bite?" Nat offers lifting up her perfect sandwich.

"You bet," he responds as he walks toward her and lays a kiss on her lips. "Taste great."

She smirks at him and takes a bite of sandwich. "It better." She leans her back against the counter and Steve leans back across from her. Both of them look at each other bittersweetly with words on their mind that they don't know if they should keep to themselves or speak.

"I wish I could go with you." The words came out of their mouths at the same time.

"Well, at least we're on the same page," Steve says.

"Duty calls," Nat responds in a sad-tone through her smile.

"All I've ever wanted to do was the right thing, but right now all I want to do is run away with you," Steve confesses.

Nat flashes back to when she told Bruce that she was willing to leave everything behind and run away together. She shakes the reckless memory away. These past few months, her relationship with Steve has been so fruitful for her. She's learning to love and want more for herself than she's ever let herself even think about and being with Steve feels like a dream. But the fact that she can't hide from is that she's here and everyone who disappeared isn't.

"We owe it everyone not in this room."

"I know, I know. Of course I want to do this," Steve sighs. "But I just want you to know that is how you make me feel."

"To not to do right thing?" She jokes.

"To have someone to love that makes you want nothing else."

Suddenly, the tension between them rises above boiling point and her joking smile flattens to a linear line as she looks deeply into his sincere eyes. _Love_. The word doesn't feel real to her, it never has, but somehow she's falling for it when it comes out of Steve Rogers' lips.

"Steve…" Now she wishes they had started sooner. Saving the world a handful of times, running around the world, and sleeping next to him for almost a whole two-year, yet she's feeling greedy and wishing they had more time because suddenly everything feels so fleeting.

He kisses her speechless lips and holds the back of her head with his hand. "I love you," he utters softly as they break apart.

She parts her lips to respond, but they're interrupted by Scott who doesn't seem to be phased anymore by them.

"Knock, knock," he says knocking on the glass panels of the kitchen wall. Caught off guard, Nat and Steve shy off of each other with Nat rubbing her hand on the back of her neck and Steve leaning back on the counter and crossing his arms. "It's time."

Leaving their conversation hanging, Nat and Steve walk with Scott to meet up with everyone else. They all suit-up and walk to the platform with Tony carrying a briefcase of Pym Particles just enough for each person to have a roundtrip.

"Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know, that doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're going to win. Whatever it takes. Good luck," Steve says shifting into Captain America mode.

As Tony gives everyone their Pym Particles, Nat wraps her arms around Steve's neck pulling him into a long embrace. She closes her eyes for a brief second and recalls all their joyful moments from the past months. "I love you too," she whispers in his ear. She pulls away and moves her hands to both side of his cheeks getting a good, deep look at his eyes, nose, eyebrows, mouth… Remembering every detail.

Steve can't help it and leans in for a kiss. It's long and lingering. They hear Thor whistle, and they smile while pulling away.

"Well, well, my good sir! It's about time, can't say good time though," Thor cheers.

"I knew it!" Tony shouts.

"So did I," Scott chimes in.

"I had an inkling _long_ before any of you guys," Bruce interrupts.

"No way! When the job is done, celebrations are in order!" Tony says. Everyone stands in their place in a circle on the platform. "Everyone ready?"

Steve looks over at Nat one last time, memorizing the smile radiating on her face. "See you in a minute."

They flip their helmets on and rush into the Quantum Realm.


End file.
